Wiley Accounting
Weekly Updates

Discussion Topics for Today's Classroom

No wonder the payroll can’t get paid!

Description: Many Canadians have heard by now of the Phoenix payroll system failures. (It was featured in this blog on November 27, 2017.) The delays in federal employees getting the right pay at the right time just don’t seem to be disappearing. And, this week we learned there aren’t anywhere near enough parking spots for the workers trying to process that pay and help fix the Phoenix problems in Miramichi, New Brunswick. It’s just one more stress for the employees who have been trying to cope with the pressures of a troubled system.

1) Do you or any or your classmates have a federal government job for the summer? Are you concerned about getting the right pay at the right time?

2) If you were an accountant tasked with fixing the Phoenix pay problems, what would be your first move?

3) Starting on page 527 of Wiley’s Financial Accounting: Tools for Business Decision Making, there is a section on Payroll. How does an employer record the benefit expense for the employees? Were you aware that benefits are a significant percentage of an organization’s expenses?